Crisis feared as refugees flee Chechnya

Posted: Wednesday, September 29, 1999

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - Regions around the restive Russian republic of Chechnya faced a humanitarian crisis Tuesday as tens of thousands of frightened Chechens fled a sixth day of Russian airstrikes.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia was not planning another ground war, after the one that devastated Chechnya in 1994-96. But he cautioned that "other possible steps would be considered" if the airstrikes failed to wipe out rebel operations.

Chechnya-based Islamic rebels have twice invaded neighboring Dagestan in recent weeks, and are blamed for a series of apartment explosions in Russian that killed some 300 people this month. Russia says its air campaign is aimed at the rebels, not at Chechnya's government or people.

But Chechen officials said eight people were killed when a schoolhouse was bombed on Tuesday in the village of Staraya Sunzha on the outskirts of Grozny, the Chechen capital, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. The military said Tuesday's raids also hit a television station, oil derricks and industrial facilities.

The raids have terrified ordinary Chechens. About 60,000 have fled to the neighboring republic of Ingushetia, according to Ingush President Ruslan Aushev. From 8,000 to 12,000 more have headed for the neighboring regions of Dagestan, North Ossetia and Stavropol, the Federal Migration Service reported, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

The exodus threatens to overwhelm the already-meager facilities in the impoverished Caucasus region.

"We urgently need humanitarian aid - temporary housing, warm clothes and blankets - because we are on the doorstep of winter," Aushev said.

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to Ingushetia on Tuesday and ordered that refugee camps be set up within 24 hours.